Newlands Farm

Follow Newlands if you are interested in:

• Guided robotic systems
• Improving age at first calving
• Improving milk from forage

Overview

Newlands Farm, near Bude, is run by David Luxton and the Haworth family. Having been in the family since the 1960s, Newlands Farm runs an all-year-round calving, pedigree Holstein Friesian herd and milk 180 through a guided robotic system.

Our farm

Previously a traditional grass-based system, the farm invested in a guided robotic system in 2019.

This has delivered an increase in yield from 8,500 litres to about 11,000 litres, which the team continually reviews and hopes to lift further.

The 250-acre farm is all down to permanent pasture, which they reseed as regularly as they can. They’ve always seen good yields and are currently achieving around 4,000 litres from forage, which they hope to improve during their time as a strategic farm.

A further 70 acres is rented, 35 of which is to grass with the remainder used for maize, which David trialled for the first time in 2021.

Our herd

The milking herd consists of 180 pedigree Holstein Friesians. All cows are fully housed, including youngstock, which has helped increase growth rates. A new, purpose-built shed houses the robots and milking herd.

Our journey

Over the next few years, David is particularly keen to focus on his financial key performance indicators (KPIs). The team are also looking to improve their age at first calving which they hope to reduce to 24 months. To achieve this, David is taking a particular focus on his heifers’ growth rates and is looking to make further improvements to their management.

News and past events

• Enhancing milk from forage with home-grown feed (May 2024) Two strategic dairy farmers, David from Newlands Farm and Ollie from Dillington Farm, discuss the improvements they made on-farm to increase the milk yield achieved from forage.
• Maximising returns on your dairy heifers (September 2023) Ginny Sherwin from Nottingham University talks with David about making improvements to heifer rearing and efficiency (YouTube, 12 minutes) 
• Dry cow transition at Newlands Farm (August 2023) Laura Awdry, AHDB knowledge exchange manager chats with David about changes he's made to his dry cow transition (YouTube, 9 minutes) 
• Dry cow transition webinar – it's more than just diet (September 2022) At the farm Hefin Richards provides an overview of factors to consider as part of your transition management (YouTube, 1 hour) 

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